Blue Hawks win a pair of duals in Great Falls

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GREAT FALLS, Mont. — The Dickinson State wrestling team came away with two dual wins at the Battle of the Rockies at the University of Great Falls.

The Blue Hawks handled Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 35-10, but the final dual with Indiana Tech came down to wire as senior Kevin Kessler and freshman Brian Klevies sealed the dual 26-20 on Friday.

“The way we wrestled was great to see,” DSU head coach Thadd O’Donnell said. “They did a great job even in the matches that we lost. We weren’t worried about wins and losses, but competing the entire time.”

In the dual against Indiana Tech, DSU was down until junior Jesse Hellinger pinned Kelvin Jordan, Jr. in 1 minute, 3 seconds at 184 pounds. The pin tied the dual 20-20. Kessler and Klevies then finished out with back-to-back wins.

Kesseler (197) and Klevies (heavyweight) each took decisions over their opponents. Kessler defeated Dustin Boyd 4-0. Klevies eked out a 6-5 win over Logan Rimmer.

Other Blue Hawks to pick up two wins on the day were junior Bryden Lazaro (125), sophomore Clayton Steinmetz (141) and senior Brad Steele (149). Hellinger, Klevies and Kessler each won two matches at the meet.

The Blue Hawks make a quick turnaround competing in the Great Falls Open at 9 a.m. today.

“It’s a grind,” O’Donnell said. “They had two tough duals today and we turnaround to wrestle at 9 a.m.”

Tags: college wrestling, blue hawks, sports